Article excerpt

Yong, a prominent Christian theologian coming from the Pentecostal tradition, is highly regarded for opening up new horizons of Christian self-understanding in areas of key interest. With his work focusing on the Theology of the Holy Spirit, or Pneumatological Theology, he has already made significant contributions in the area of theology of religions (Beyond the Impasse: Toward a Pneumatological Theology of Religions, 2003), and theology of disability (The Bible, Disability, and the Church, A New Vision for the People of God, 2007), among others. The Cosmic Breath ventures into a cutting-edge field as Yong explores theological and philosophical implications of a three-way conversation among Christianity, Buddhism, and science. The question of the relationship between religion and science, as fields of human endeavor in the quest for truth, is of topical interest especially in the context of the interdisciplinary ventures gaining ground in the contemporary intellectual scene. Until recently, "religion" has mainly referred to the Christian religious and/or theological tradition. Now, with different forms of Buddhism also featuring prominently in the religious landscape of the Western hemisphere, explorations into a mode of relationship between science and religion that are markedly different from Christian-based conceptual frameworks have come to the fore. The first two parts of Yong's volume map the trajectories of the dialogue between Christian theology and science and between Buddhism and science, offering original insights in these areas. …